Brexit’s back, and the threat it poses is greater than ever – Angus Robertson

With Boris Johnson refusing to consider an extension to negotiations desipte the pandemic a hard Brexit is looking increasingly likely, writes Angus Robertson

Brexit has been squeezed out of the news agenda by the Covid-19 pandemic "Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

Hard to believe that after years of wall-to-wall Brexit coverage, there is hardly any news about the cliff edge we are heading towards.

With the pandemic squeezing out all other media coverage, you’d be hard pushed to remember a detailed update on the Brexit talks which will or won’t secure a negotiated settlement by the end of the transition period we are currently in.

Under the current timetable the UK will leave the European single market at the end of the year regardless of a deal unless an extension is agreed to the negotiations. Leaving the biggest single market in the world without an agreement will pile economic damage on top of the huge coronavirus impact.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will not support an extension under any circumstances, despite a mechanism that was agreed to in the withdrawal agreement. On the European side, the Commission has said that given the Covid-19 pandemic it would be happy to agree an extension to the negotiations.

According to legal experts like Jean-Claude Piris, who was the EU’s chief lawyer, Britain will simply fall off a second cliff edge without an agreement. “The 30th June 2020 is a firm deadline,” he said, “provided for by article 132(1) of the Withdrawal Agreement. This is an international treaty which has now been ratified by both Parties and is legally binding for them.”

A hard Brexit is really, really bad news for jobs and businesses in Edinburgh, Scotland and the UK. How wrong it would be for the Brexiteers to use coronavirus as a cover to make this damaging reality come true. It’s time for an extension.